Bits of Madness: It’s the band, man!

Peace, love, hoops and rockin’ with the band.

We here at Bits Central are true and devoted bucket heads, but we are also music lovers and, therefore, committed to the proposition that no interscholastic game is complete without a band. This is especially true of football. If you throw a football game and don’t have a marching band on the field at halftime, then it’s not really football.

None of the teams that qualify for the state basketball tournament are allowed to bring their bands. But bands are provided for them.

Friday, the band of IHSA choice was from Mount Carroll, which has been here before, by the way. And we start by loving their sign, which conveys exactly what we were just discussing: “Without Pep Band, it’s just a game.” We were wondering, though, about the orange “caution” symbol sharing space with the sign.

Bressler is a fun-loving sort. The band members wore matching T-shirts with three icons on the front, each with words underneath to explain: “Eat. Sleep. Band.” Her band also likes to cheer. A lot. “The fun part is cheering,” Bressler said. “But it’s tough here. We have to be neutral. So we cheer for everybody.”

And they play for everybody. Their go-to tune at State is “Mortal Kombat.” Because it’s short, and the band has to fit most of its pieces into timeouts and such. “The first year we were here, we played it about 47 times,” Bressler said. “Since then, it’s a staple.”

Author: Kirk Wessler

Kirk Wessler is executive sports editor/columnist and has worked at the Journal Star since 1987. A graduate of Bradley University, he previously worked at the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune and Dallas Times-Herald. Wessler's work has won numerous awards from Associated Press Sports Editors, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, Illinois Press Association and Illinois Associated Press. He is former president of the USBWA. Follow him on Twitter @KirkWessler.
View all posts by Kirk Wessler